As a way to add to their theme of women’s rights, WeGo Global focused on the issue of human trafficking for the month of April and May with their “We Won’t Rest” campaign.

WeGo Global chose women’s rights as their main topic to advocate for this semester.

“Human trafficking is overwhelmingly a women’s issue. Education was our focus for February, economic empowerment was our focus for March, and we figured for April we’d look at the issue of human trafficking because their (women’s) rights are being denied,” WeGo Global adviser Maggie Haas said.

Before the club began to advocate against human trafficking, the club informed themselves fully about the issue.

“We brought a congressman (Randy Hultgren) to be our introduction to what’s going on. He is involved in some legislation that’s currently working its way through Congress that deals with how to interact with countries that are participants in human trafficking,” Haas said.

WeGo Global created a campaign called “We Won’t Rest” to inform students about human trafficking.

So far, the club has been doing so by placing facts about the issue in the announcements and hanging up facts in classrooms.

“(The facts) are so that people understand what it is, how to recognize signs, what to do if you see human trafficking. We’re also going to a fundraiser as well. We’re going to be selling suckers and we will have a catchy campaign slogan,” Haas said.

The money collected from the fundraiser will go to Polaris and Anne’s House, projects created to fight human trafficking and help victims.

The club also plans and hopes to help Anne’s House, a residential program for victims of human trafficking, with more than just the fundraiser money.

“The people who are there need basic toiletries. When you’re at a hotel, you only use a squirt of shampoo and they (hotel staff) throw it out and it’s a waste. What we might do is we’re going to contact some local hotels and see if there’s a way that their housekeeping staff can collect that stuff for us so we can take it to Anne’s House,” Haas said.

According to Haas, human trafficking impacts everyone, including students.

“Even though we’re not out there, buying people, you look at the clothes that you wear and the food that you eat it could be the product of some form of human trafficking,” Haas said.

Haas hopes the campaign helps students become more aware of global issues.

“It’s about expanding your galaxy a little bit. There are other issues that are out there that you can play a small part in. You buy a sucker that is 25 cents, that money is going towards campaigns that are helping out. You read some facts, you see a poster, well maybe that will make you stop and think twice when you see someone,” Haas said.